Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/06/2020 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB169 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 169 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 169-LICENSE PLATES: COUNCIL ON ARTS
9:00:31 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO.
169, "An Act relating to special request registration plates
celebrating the arts; and relating to the Alaska State Council
on the Arts."
He stated his intention to hear from the Alaska State Council on
the Arts and hold the bill in committee.
9:00:58 AM
TIM LAMKIN, Staff, Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, noted that SB 169 was introduced at
the request of the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) and
described SB 169 as a housekeeping bill. It is not just about
license plates because it also allows the council to have legal
representation from the Department of Law and the flexibility to
retain temporary counsel, as necessary. Perhaps most
substantively, the bill, as a result of last year's budget
cycle, would exempt a portion of the council's budget from the
Alaska Executive Budget Act. The private funds raised for the
foundation from nonprofit entities would be exempt from the
budget act. It would hold those funds harmless from a veto
process.
MR. LAMKIN presented the sectional.
Section 1:
AS 28.10.421(a), relating to fees paid to the Division of
Motor Vehicles (DMV) for vehicle license plates, allows for
an additional fee, set by Alaska State Council on the Arts
(ASCA) regulation, and not to exceed $50, when a person
chooses a new or replacement ASCA artistic plate.
The subsection also provides that these additional fees
will be accounted for separately and that the total amount
that exceeds the costs of the Artistic License Plate
Program may be appropriated to fund the ASCA.
MR. LAMKIN explained that the bill would not establish new
plates. It addresses existing plates for the Arts Council.
Currently those plates are $30. This bill would provide the
means for the council to set in regulation an additional
surcharge that would go to the council. The text says not to
exceed $50, but his understanding is that a $3 surcharge is
being considered. He noted members of the council could clarify
that later.
Section 2:
AS 44.27, relating to the ASCA generally, adds a new
section (AS 44.27.053) providing that the Attorney
General is legal counsel for ASCA, similar to other
state agencies, and also allows the ASCA to retain
additional legal counsel as needed.
Section 3:
AS 44.27.055(d), relating to the ASCA managing its
affairs, exempts from the purview of the Executive
Budget Act those funds received by ASCA from private
non-profit foundation partners.
Section 4:
AS 44.27.080(a), relating to an ASCA-sponsored
competition for artistic plates design, from being
mandatory to being optional, every four years, at the
discretion of ASCA.
Section 5:
AS 44.27.080(c), relating to the artistic plate design
competition, restores authority for the ASCA to award
the artist of the winning design a monetary amount set
in regulation, from the funds generated by the
artistic plates. This provision was repealed in 2018.
9:04:58 AM
SENATOR HUGHES referred to Section 2 and asked if the arts
council had been using private counsel.
MR. LAMKIN deferred the question to the representative from the
Alaska State Council on the Arts.
SENATOR STEVENS called Ben Brown to the table.
9:05:38 AM
BEN BROWN, Chair, Alaska State Council on the Arts, Juneau,
Alaska, said he was first appointed by Governor Murkowski as
vice-chair in 2004 and Governor Palin appointed him chair in
2007 and he has been reappointed several times since then. In
response to Senator Hughes, he said the council has been in a
grey area. The council on numerous occasions has needed to speak
to an assistant attorney general at the Department of Law. In
the interest of full disclosure, he shared that he is an
attorney and a member of the Alaska Bar Association. Things
arise in the course of normal business for a state agency that
require legal advice. The council has always relied on the
Department of Law for that. Last summer, after the vetoes were
issued on June 28, the Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), where the council is housed
administratively, had an order from the administration to close
things down in an orderly manner. "Obviously, my interest was in
keeping things open for as long as possible in hopes that there
would be a different outcome. I'm happy to say we're all here
today because there was a different outcome," he said.
MR. BROWN said meanwhile, the assistant attorney general
representing DEED and the council was in a conflicted position
because of the different questions being asked by DEED and
himself. The bill language is from the Limited Entry Act. He
shared that he served almost eight years as a member of the
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, and this provision exists
in the Limited Entry Act. The commission can use the Department
of Law for legal counsel but also has the ability to hire
outside counsel. Since this bill was drafted, he consulted with
the governor's legislative office, and the administration
supports the concept but does not find this to be the most
appropriate language. He thinks he and the governor have come to
an agreement on compromise language. The basic intent and effect
of Section 2 of the bill will remain the same, even if the
language is changed.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if there has been occasion in the past where
the council has needed to go outside for legal counsel or is
that the only example in recent history.
MR. BROWN replied that last summer the Arts and Culture
Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the Arts Council, did
engage counsel to help ASCA get through this process. He
speculated that in the future there could be an intellectual
property situation involving the Visual Artists Rights Act, a
federal statute. The Department of Law does not have a lot of
expertise in that area. Perhaps something specific to an
artistic program might require ASCA to hire someone with
expertise. ASCA has not had to do it in the past except for the
odd situation last summer, which he hopes will not repeat
itself. It just seems wise to have that in statute as an option
for the board of trustees.
SENATOR HUGHES relayed a story of how a lawsuit was avoided. An
Alaskan submitted the design for the license plate with the bear
standing up for a contest a long time ago. It turns out that was
from a sketch by another artist. The artist, an elderly fellow
on the East Coast, was contacted and he was flattered that it
was being used. He was sent an honorary license plate with the
bear. In that case a lawsuit was avoided but it could have been
the basis for one.
9:10:48 AM
MR. BROWN said that for Section 1, the sponsor statement
describes the history of the license plate program, which was
proposed in a bill by Representative Kreiss-Tomkins that
ultimately did not pass. Former Representative Bill Stoltze
incorporated the language in 2016 in a bill that created blood
bank license plates. At that time, a fee was envisioned for the
artistic license plates to generate revenue, similar to other
specialty plates. The ACSA conducted a contest and a panel
vetted the finalists. Fifteen thousand Alaskans voted online for
the winner. The plates are very popular since people like the
design depicting the aurora borealis and the moon over the
mountains. Before the plates were issued, Representative Kreiss-
Tomkin's staff and the ASCA reviewed the figures and found that
not many $50 plates were issued, so these plates were issued
without any additional surcharge. This has been well received
and thus far, 30,768 plates have been issued.
MR. BROWN said that for a period last year, more ACSA plates
were issued than the bear or yellow standard. There is a great
deal of demand for them. The bill allows for an amount to be set
in regulation not to exceed $50. Keeping in mind price
elasticity, a $50 surcharge will lead to a sharp decrease in the
cars registered with this plate. The goal is to the find sweet
spot to enable issuing as many artistic licenses as possible
while also generating a meaningful amount of earned income and
revenue for the ASCA. It would not be a dedicated fund, which is
unconstitutional, but the bill says the commissioner of the
Department of Administration (DOA) will separately account for
the surcharge and the legislature could appropriate that. The
end result is that ASCA would have a designated general fund
component in its budget that allows ASCA to meet its matching
requirement for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). ASCA
cannot use its private foundation dollars to make that match. It
has to be state money. ASCA cannot make its $700,000 budget with
this, but it could perhaps make 5-10 percent of its budget. That
is the goal, to continue a program that celebrates Alaskan art,
makes beautiful license plates, and also generates funds.
MR. BROWN shared that ASCA foundation partners were disturbed
when all the foundation money was vetoed, in addition to state
and federal funds, last year. The foundations are investing in
the people of Alaska through the State Council on the Arts. He
conferred with the administration about this provision and has
had no opposition about exempting those private foundation
dollars from the Executive Budget Act. The legislature would
still need to appropriate state money and the federal receipts
authority. Without the state match, after a certain amount of
time ASCA would be out of compliance with the provisions of the
National Endowment for the Arts and ASCA would not be able to
receive the foundation money. This would delay a catastrophic
event and not have it happen as quickly as it did in June and
July last year.
9:16:03 AM
CHAIR STEVENS observed that it is unusual for agencies to have
outside monies like that. He asked if there are other agencies
that do. He asked Mr. Brown to help the committee understand the
funds he wants to protect.
MR. BROWN replied that he could not speak to other agencies. The
Rasmuson Foundation is the largest ASCA foundation partner in
the state. The Rasmuson Foundation's commitment to healthy
Alaskan lives and lives that are full of meaningful experiences,
including arts and culture, led to that partnership. Most of the
Rasmuson funds invested in the council go to arts education
programs and enables the council to do the New Visions program.
The Kodiak Island Borough School District, in Senator Stevens'
district, has the Munartet Project. The investment of Rasmuson
funds in arts and culture through the state council attracted
the attention of Margaret Cargill Philanthropies, based in
Minneapolis. Margaret Cargill Philanthropies is investing as
much, and potentially more in the future, as Rasmuson in
educational programs.
MR. BROWN said he believes that now that ASCA is reconstituting
itself and recovering from the shutdown last year, more grant
opportunities from national foundations are available. People
are interested in Alaska since is an alluring, exotic place in
the minds of most other Americans. The ASCA has done good work
with the money that has been invested in the council. This
exemption will help the council forge new relationships by
reassuring potential foundation partners that their money is not
going to be vetoed in a way that could be considered arbitrary
or capricious. Last summer the ASCA asked Rasmuson Foundation
and Cargill Philanthropies for more time to allow the ASCA the
chance to arrive at a different outcome. He said he is grateful
for their patience and forbearance because the ACSA managed to
survive and retain these important partners.
MR. BROWN noted that other agencies that might have similar
financial structures are social services agencies. The Council
on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (CDVSA) receives
meaningful grant dollars from the federal Department of Justice
(DOJ). He acknowledged that he does not have a lot of concrete
examples. However, he offered his view that if ACSA is leading
by example, other state agencies might also participate because
it is a great way to bring money into Alaska and relieve the
pressure on scarce undesignated general funds (UGF).
9:19:14 AM
SENATOR BEGICH added that one example might be the UA
[University of Alaska] Foundation. Money donated to that fund is
private money not subject to the governor's veto. The Alaska
Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) has a substantial amount
of money based on its settlement, which are funds not subject to
the whim of the legislature or governor. While the AMHTA funds
are not donated funds, the authority's funds are external funds.
Those are two substantive examples of nonstate funds held
outside the purview of the governor or legislature, he said.
SENATOR HUGHES noted that a few years ago she carried a bill for
the ASCA to try to avoid what happened last summer and to allow
more flexibility in bringing private dollars. She asked what the
result was of that legislation.
MR. BROWN responded that that was the Senate companion to HB 137
in 2017. That bill significantly restructured the council and
made it a semindependent corporation. Before ASCA was an agency
of the state. The bill made the staff part of the exempt
service, not the classified service. It exempted ASCA from the
procurement code and gave ASCA the ability to set its own
personnel policies. ASCA has an interim personnel policy.
Procurement for ASCA requires fewer hoops than the state
requires. He can get a graph to the committee that shows the
increase in foundation dollars over the years. From the time
that HB 137 was enacted, foundation dollars have gone steadily
up. Now that ASCA is reconstituting itself, the ability to
reclassify positions and change duties of the staff is vastly
easier than it would have been if those positions had remained
classified.
9:22:44 AM
SENATOR BEGICH clarified that the NEA match requires public
funds, not private funds.
MR. BROWN answered that is absolutely correct. The National Arts
and Humanities Act created the National Endowment for the Arts
and mandates that whatever amount is set for the state
partnership agreement, which is a three-year contract, has to
matched by state funds. It could be earned revenue or from
general funds, but it must be state money appropriated by the
legislature. Mary Ann Carter, the NEA chairman, was in Juneau
last summer and made that point when she spoke to the Juneau
Chamber of Commerce before the second round of vetoes was
announced on August 19. That was a policy choice made by
Congress, that there must be a meaningful investment by the
state to get the federal match. Alaska is unique in how that
state and federal investment is leveraging a significantly
larger private foundation investment. Ms. Carter thinks Alaska
is a shining example.
SENATOR BEGICH stated that the public money that the bill would
generate would supplement ACSA's ability to make that match. The
risk of losing the federal match still remains if the state does
not fund the arts council. He clarified that if Alaska became
the only state in the union not to fund the arts council, the
council would not be able to give out these arts grants.
MR. BROWN replied that the ultimate failure of not funding the
state council with state funds would mean that the state is out
of compliance and would eventually lose the endowment funds.
Ultimately, those funds would be redistributed to other states,
territories, and jurisdictions. Nearly ten years ago, Kansas
became the only state without an arts council, and Alaska
benefitted by receiving funds previously designated for Kansas.
Similarly, if last year's vetoes had not been revised, the
$700,000 Alaska receives would have been redistributed to other
states, the District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, America Samoa,
and Guam. It would be impossible for the ASCA to continue
because the Rasmuson Foundation and Margaret Cargill
Philanthropies are not interested in funding an education
program and the staff costs to administer it. These foundations
are willing to donate funds to offset some of those costs, but
these foundations do not wish to pay rent, staff salary, or
other similar costs. The state and federal investments make it
possible for the agency to exist. The ASCA can then obtain
foundation dollars for specific programs that augment the
council's ability to enrich Alaska lives with arts and culture.
However, the basic infrastructure must in place, he said.
CHAIR STEVENS asked for an explanation of Section 5. At one
point, the council was able to award money for artistic design.
That was repealed and the council wants that reinstated.
9:27:38 AM
MR. BROWN said the original vision was to have a $50 surcharge
on plates. After the plate was designed and before it went into
production, the council decided to see how the program would
work without a surcharge. That change was made with an amendment
to a 2018 bill from Senator Egan bill about license plates. When
the council got rid of the surcharge, it did not want a
provision to pay an artist when there was no revenue generated
by the license plate program. Now that the council is
envisioning revenue being generated by the program, the council
thinks it is reasonable to be able to pay an artist. The council
believes in paying artists so that people who want to make a
living as artists can.
CHAIR STEVENS called Ms. Noble to testify.
9:29:53 AM
ANDREA NOBLE, Executive Director, Alaska State Council on the
Arts, Anchorage, Alaska, in response to Senator Steven's comment
about the unusual makeup of the agency as a public corporation,
said that ASCA is the only arts agency structured as a public
corporation. She thanked Senator Hughes for carrying that bill.
ASCA is on the leading edge of arts agencies in terms of
organizational structure. It has put ASCA in the unique position
of being able to generate more private funding, which was a
direct result of the change to a public corporation.
MS. NOBLE said to expand on Senator Hughes' question about the
effect of that legislation, last year there was a dramatic
increase of $1.5 million in private and foundation funding.
Unfortunately, the disruption to services last year interrupted
ACSA's ability to receive funds and execute programs in arts
education. ACSA was on track to show the programmatic and
foundation funding increase. The council is still working on
that this year. The success of the license plate without a fee
has shown the great support of Alaskans. ACSA is excited about
the expansion of the license plate program into revenue. It may
lead to programs serving Alaskans. ACSA is looking at the
disruption of services as an opportunity to connect to other
sectors in the state. For example, the Alaska Marijuana Control
Board has asked ASCA to partner around education and prevention
for addiction. It is an interesting opportunity to think about
how the arts can relate to healing and the wellness of the
state.
9:34:18 AM
MR. BROWN shared that ASCA is very proud of a program called
Creative Forces, an arts therapy program started by the NEA in
conjunction with the Department of Defense at Walter Reed Army
Hospital. It was expanded to 10 military hospitals around the
country, including JBER [Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson]. The
council worked carefully with Senator Murkowski's office to make
sure JBER was chosen. The music therapist for ASCA has a room at
JBER to meet with clients who are returnees from theaters of war
around the world. These soldiers have severe injuries, and music
therapy is helpful for their road to recovery and reintegration
into society. Also, Americans for the Arts and NEA have created
a community engagement program for veterans who become musicians
through the music therapy to engage in jam sessions. He hoped to
work with Senator Revak and Representative Tarr, the cochairs of
the Joint Armed Services Committee, to showcase that work during
the session. The Creative Force program will make legislators
feel that the agency should exist and it is doing good things
and making Alaska a better place.
MR. BROWN summarized that the bill is important for the path to
sustainability and success.
SENATOR HUGHES said since Mr. Brown mentioned Creative Force,
she wanted to say something outside of the box. She attended the
Lullaby Project at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. The
female inmates compose music and perform with musicians. It was
incredible and life changing for inmates. She would be curious
to know if that kind of therapy can help reduce recidivism. The
recidivism rate at three years hovers around 60 percent, but at
nine years it is 83 percent. Anything to help reduce the number
of crime victims in the state and turn people's lives around.
She asked if the arts council has ever delved into something
like that and was there any research that showed it help get
people's lives back on track. Arts could also become a career
for some.
CHAIR STEVENS said he appreciated the wide-ranging discussion.
"Everyone loves the arts council here, and we'll give you an
opportunity to answer Senator Hughes' question," he said.
9:38:55 AM
MR. BROWN replied the ACSA has done some work in some
correctional facilities, most notably with Sealaska Heritage
Institute at Lemon Creek Correctional Center. The former
community and Native arts program director helped to comanage a
teaching program that was aimed at Alaska Native inmates. He
pointed to Senator Coghill as someone who has devoted so much
time and effort to help the criminal justice system work right.
The arts have a tremendous role to play, he said. With last
year's events, ACSA could not expand its work in the Lemon Creek
Correctional Center (LCCC). He explained that once prisoners
became sober and received substance abuse help, art programs
helped them access their creativity. The inmates at LCCC created
artwork, which was sold with the proceeds deposited to their
prison accounts, giving these inmates some resources to fall
back on once the offenders are released from prison. Alaska is
just beginning to use arts in corrections. California has a
robust, correctional creative program. He expressed an interest
in discussing arts programs with Commissioner Dahlstrom,
Department of Corrections (DOC) because of the positive
potential these programs offer. National foundations are very
interested in correction and criminal justice reform. These
foundations have resources that could be invested in Alaska as
state funding diminishes. If the ACSA could develop a working
relationship with the Department of Corrections, it could allow
the ACSA to resume its work in correctional facilities. These
programs are not offered at maximum security places, but at
medium security places where people are not serving time for
committing the most heinous crimes. The ACSA has done some work
in that area and it would like to do more.
CHAIR STEVENS called Mr. Lamkin to the table to speak about
license plate data.
MR. LAMKIN said he wanted to clarify Mr. Brown's comment about
the number of license plates issued "to date." He said he was
waiting for a response about the artistic license plates, but
he did get data that from March 2018 through August 2019 that
showed that 30,700 artistic plates were issued.
CHAIR STEVENS opened public testimony and after ascertaining
there was none, he kept public testimony open and mentioned that
written testimony could be emailed to
senate.education@akleg.gov.
9:43:30 AM
CHAIR STEVENS held SB 169 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01_SB169_ArtsCouncil-Plates_SponsorStatement.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| 02_SB169_ArtsCouncil-Plates_BillText_VersionM.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| 03_SB169_ArtsCouncil-Plates_Sectional_VersionM.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| 04_SB169_ArtsCouncil-Plates_FiscalNote01_DEED-Arts_31Jan2020.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| 05_SB169_ArtsCouncil-Plates_FiscalNote02_DMV_01Feb2020.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| 06_SB169_ArtsCouncil-Plates_FiscalNote03_LAW_01Feb2020.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| 07_SB169_ArtsCouncil-Plates_DMV_LicensePlate_Options_Feb2020.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| SSSB006_AK-Reads-Act_DEED-FollowUp_ECS_Definition-Reading-Specialist_06Feb2020.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 6 |
| SSSB006_AK-Reads-Act_DEED-FollowUp_TeacherCertification_06Feb2020.pdf |
SEDC 2/6/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 6 |